policy

On November 14, 2019, NWO-WOTRO and F&BKP organized a conference in The Hague gathering representatives of 14 finalized Global Challenges Programme projects. The objective was to communicate and discuss synthesized project research results, insights and lessons learned, aiming to inspire practices and policies in the field of Inclusive Agribusiness (IAB) and to scale promising solutions. The outcomes of this learning event are shared in this news item. »

This article aims to assess political and social outcomes of the formalisation and commercialisation of the seed sector, by comparing maize seed system development in Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania, combining policy analysis with quantitative analysis of farmers’ seed use. Climate-smart seed policies and seed system development strategies must be sensitive to differences between farming systems and different groups of farmers if they are to deliver socially fair outcomes. »

A three-day workshop “Strengthening Ugandan Food and Nutrition Security in policy and practice – Scaling innovations from food and agricultural research” was organized in June by NWO-WOTRO, F&BKP and AgriProFocus Uganda. Aim of the workshop was to take stock of the insights and outcomes of the ARF projects in Uganda. »

Several policy actions are required to improve the performance of the agri-food system in the Pacific Island Countries to a more organised and efficient way of producing, processing, marketing and trade, from farm to plate, and a wider view of the opportunities for diversifying diets and incomes. CTA states that this suggests the need for mobilising significant financial investments, including for the development of infrastructure such as transport networks and ICTs, markets and services. »

To increase rural people’s access to nutritious and healthy food in Fiji, CTA analysed the agricultural sector and came up with several key recommendations. Key strategies include: Create an enabling environment for the agriculture-nutrition nexus. Support evidence-based policy and planning. Promote nutrition-sensitive value chains to improve accessibility of nutritious food products. Improve multi-sector co-ordination of food and nutrition security policy. Mainstream nutrition into national sectoral policies and action plans. »

This issue examines a range of perspectives on power in food systems, and the various active players, relationships, activities, and institutions that play a major role in shaping them. In aiming to understand power in the food system, there are many different disciplinary, epistemological, and ideological entry points into the study of power, and seeking a single approach will likely limit the insights that different disciplines and research orientations can bring to the study of food systems. »